Buses ferry migrant workers from border area of Morta in Ghaziabad
Thousands of migrant workers who arrived in the border area of Morta, Ghaziabad, looking for a way back to their home towns, were Thursday allowed to board a UP
Thousands of migrant workers who arrived in the border area of Morta, Ghaziabad, looking for a way back to their home towns, were Thursday allowed to board a UP State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) buses to their respective villages. Many living in shelter homes were also put on buses back to home. The mammoth gathering of workers, however, was uncontrollable and social distancing was largely flouted.
The officials of UPSRTC said there was a need for about 155 buses to ferry all the migrant workers who arrived at Morta.
“The buses are being sent on a regular basis. About 109 buses were dispatched on May 12 and more are being sent again on Thursday. We are trying to ensure that workers occupy only 30 of the 52 available seats on ordinary and Janrath buses. However, everyone wanted to board the buses. But officials at the spot tried hard to maintain social distancing,” AK Singh, regional manager of UPSRTC, said.
He said separate arrangements were being made for migrant workers who were staying at shelter homes.
“Each migrant who arrived in Morta on Thursday was properly screened by the health department and their identification noted down before they were allowed to board buses to different areas in eastern Uttar Pradesh and bordering areas of Bihar and Madhya Pradesh,” Singh said.
As a result, majority of roads in Ghaziabad did not see the migrant worker exodus as seen over the previous days when groups had set out on foot with their families for the long trek back home.
Twenty-five year-old Kavita, who is eight months pregnant, has been staying on the road with her family. However, when her family heard about buses from Morta, they rushed to the spot.
“I going on eight months and have been staying on the road with my family. We are construction workers and our shanty near Raj Nagar was blown away by the squall three days ago. On Thursday, I heard that buses were going from Morta and so I arrived here with my husband and three-year-old son. We have no money left and need to return to our village in Damoh, Madhya Pradesh. The bus will drop us near the border and from there we will make further arrangements to reach home,” she said.
“There is huge crowd and everyone is trying to get on the buses. My husband asked me to wait and not to move into the crowd as I could get hurt,” Kavita said.
Most of the workers who arrived in Morta on Thursday were mostly from Delhi, Hayrana, Ghaziabad and Noida.
“As soon as we heard that buses are leaving, we paid ₹500 per person and reached here by taxi from Gurugram on Wednesday night. However, there was a heavy rush and social distancing was hardly there. Everyone was trying to force their way onto buses and police could not control them. Still, we stood in long queues for our turn,” Dharmendra Kumar, who hails from Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh, said. He used to work with a medical company in Manesar, Gurugram, and had arrived in Morta with 12 others.
“We have tried our best to control the huge gathering of workers and accommodate them on buses to their home towns,” said Shailendra Singh, additional district magistrate (city), who was present in Morta to make the transport arrangements.
“A number of trains are coming to UP from different states and the chief secretary has also written to Delhi to start four trains each day from Delhi to UP. It has also been decided that trains will also ply from Ghaziabad and Noida to areas in UP and Bihar. It is likely that the trains will start from Friday. The entire cost of the trains will be borne by the UP government and migrant workers will not be charged a fare,” Awanish Awasthi, additional chief secretary, Uttar Pradesh, said.
